How to know which mortgage lenders to stay away from?
March 13th, 2010 | 
Author: I аm buying a home аnd аm comparison shopping аmοng different finance lenders. Thе usual hυgе names lіkе Countrywide, Bank οf America, Citibank etc hаνе higher rates thаn thе lesser known/unheard οf places. Hοw саn уου know whісh ones аrе sound аnd whісh ones tο stay away frοm? Specifically wondering аbουt Liberty, Alpine, Quicken, Priceline etc. Iѕ іt vital tο gο wіth a local, “known” lender οr non-local lesser known ones?
Posted in Mortgage FAQ
going to the huge banks will always give you a slightly higher rate because of their huge overhead.
it really depends if you have excellent credit or not…decent to terrible credit ….a broker will always be your best choice.
Believe me when I tell you that the internet lenders always tell you they have a lower rate, then wham! At least with the local lenders if something goes ill-treat you can walk into their office and face them. You won’t be able to get your internet lender on the phone! Now I have worked with Alpine Capital – Chris Preston, but Quicken will charge high fee’s, don’t know Liberty, and Priceline? OMG! That is like a car dealer here in Minneapolis opened his own Real Estate firm and finance company. I strongly urge you to use local lenders for now.
Two things to look at: Is the lender licensed in your state? This is supposed to be stated in the small print. If not, question. Check with the licensing agency for complaints. Don’t go with unlicensed lenders. You will have no help if things go ill-treat.
Second: Don’t go with a lender that promises too much. Go with a solid repayment program you can afford. No money down and interest only for five years usually only leads to one single outcome: you lose the house at the end of five years, because you will not be able to afford the swift large increase in payments.
If you are plotting to own the home for a limited period of time (or you force suddenly have to relocate because of a job), it is worth checking on forestallment penalties and loan transferrability. Look up those terms if you don’t know what they mean.
Excellent luck to you!
Your best bet is to do your homework- one lender may have the lowest rate, but they may hit you on closing expenditure. One may have a higher rate, but have low closing expenditure. Personally, I have some recent experience and can tell you- go with your local bank or credit union. The cleverness to talk face to face with a finance lender is vastly underrated today, with internet deals here and there. I find that the smaller, local banks are simpler to work with and are way more keen to please and not so quick to pull bait and switch tactics, in view of the fact that they’re not “protected” by being nameless…
Excellent luck!
All lenders get their money from the same investors on Wall Street. They are not lending their own money. If anyone says they can get you a dramatically lower rates they are either about to con you or they are quoting a different type of loan than the others.
Reckon about it. If you were a crook and wanted to steal money from people wouldn’t it be fantastic to be a lender on the Internet where you could exchange your name next week and no one could find you? Or if you were not even a lender and just wanted people’s credit information so that you could directly steal from them, would this be a fantastic way to do that?
I sell a lot of houses and watch a lot of smart people borrow a lot of money. Getting a loan over the Internet is asking for distress. Question your friends and family that have bought homes recently where they got their loans and if they were lucky with the process.
Go get your loan thru them.